Dead Man's Hand: A Small Town Romance (A Good Run Of Bad Luck Book 1)

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “Well, I wouldn’t have fucking asked if I didn’t want you to,” I said angrily. God, I sucked at this.

  “Yeah, I think I’ll pass.”

  “Why?”

  She snorted. “If you can’t figure that out, maybe find a relationship book to read.”

  I rolled my eyes. Apparently Josh wasn’t the only one that thought I was an idiot. “Ciara, I would like you to come sleep in bed with me.”

  She closed her book and sat up. “Why?”

  I clenched my teeth. Why were women so complicated? Why couldn’t she just come with me because I asked? “Because I would like you in my bed.”

  “To fuck?”

  “That and I’d like to…hold you.”

  She burst out laughing. “Wow, you made that sound painful.”

  “Fuck it,” I said, turning on me heel and storming out of the room. I wasn’t going to beg. I went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I was fucking all this up, but worse, she was laughing at me. If I was still the man I used to be, she would already have a bullet in her head. But I couldn’t exactly kill a woman I liked.

  Slipping into the shower, I washed off the day and wrapped a towel around my waist. When I walked into the bedroom, Ciara was in my bed, fully dressed. Well, I wasn’t getting laid tonight, but this was progress, right?

  Grunting my approval, I walked over to the dresser and pulled on some pajama bottoms. I would sleep naked if I thought it would get me anywhere, but that wasn’t likely to happen. Shutting off the light, I climbed into bed and stared up at the ceiling. Snuggle. I could do it. I rolled over and tried to find a place to put my hand that wouldn’t be sexually suggestive. I settled for laying my arm across her waist. It was a little bit weird. My face was so close to hers. If I woke up in the middle of the night, would I think that she was here to kill me and put a bullet in her head? That might be a problem.

  She turned on her side, lifting her head. I took the opportunity to slide my arm down under her neck, allowing her to lay on my arm. Tucking her in against my body, I grinned to myself. I had successfully accomplished snuggling.

  The bed jiggled slightly, and then a lot. Two lumps laid down on our feet and I looked at the foot of the bed, sneering at the damn dogs. “Get off the bed,” I grumbled. When they didn’t move, I shoved my feet down, making them leap off the bed. But two minutes later, they were back on the bed, laying right on top of my feet.

  “Fucking hell.”

  24

  Ciara

  I thought he would try something with me tonight, but he really did just snuggle me. Although, his giant dick pressing against me at least reassured me that he wanted me. I couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t trying anything. He shifted uncomfortably behind me, each time, prodding me with his dick. I almost made a move, but maybe there was something else going on here.

  Finally, after an hour, I heard the soft sound of him breathing. He had fallen asleep, and here I was, all wound up and needing him inside me. Why had I protested so much? I could have been having sex all night, but I had scared him off or something. And now, I was nestled in his arms and he hadn’t even tried for a boob grab.

  Another hour passed, but it didn’t help. I couldn’t fall asleep with him wrapped around me, but not knowing if anything would happen. I turned in his arms, and luckily, he turned with me, laying flat on his back. Biting my lip, I tried to decide my best course of action. I could just start kissing him, but he didn’t seem like the type to particularly like kissing. In fact, I was pretty sure the only time he kissed me was in the heat of the moment.

  But there were other ways to give kisses. Pulling back the covers slowly, I stared down at his pajama pants. He wasn’t hard anymore, but I could still see the outline of his dick through his pants, and I wanted it. I pulled on both sides of his pants, his hips lifting almost subconsciously. His dick twitched, but he still wasn’t hard. Not knowing what else to do, I bent over and kissed his leg, swirling my tongue along the inside of his thigh.

  I continued until I was near his cock. Deciding to skip his cock, I went right for his balls, licking at him and sucking them into my mouth. A groan slipped from his mouth, but he was still sleeping. But his dick was finally coming to life. Wrapping my hand around him, I started stroking him as I sucked his balls into my mouth. His hand slipped into my hair, pulling at me slightly. I looked up at him, his eyes open and staring right at me.

  If it weren’t for his hard cock, I would think that cold as steel look was because he wanted to kill me. But he must be fighting for control. Letting his balls slip from my mouth, I took his cock in my mouth, pumping slowly as I sucked him as far as I could. His hand tightened in my hair, almost to the point of pain.

  “Fuck,” he groaned, his hips jerking against me. Then his hands were under my arms, pulling me up as he kicked the dogs off the bed. “You wear too many clothes,” he muttered as he started tearing them from my body.

  His lips skimmed down my neck as he positioned himself at my entrance. I wrapped my arms around him, aching for him to do what we both wanted. He slammed inside me, shouting out as he settled deep.

  “Christ,” he muttered.

  “Move,” I said, needing more. His eyes met mine, and a wicked grin split his lips. This might have been the first time I saw him smile at me. The dog, sure, but me? He pulled out and shoved himself hard inside me. Over and over, he fucked me, making me cry out from how rough he was being. My eyes slid closed as pleasure took over. I was so close.

  “Fuck, come for me,” he growled. My eyes flew open at his words. He was watching me, waiting to see me come. His fingers slid over my clit, swirling around me, driving me home. My eyes closed, my body jerked, my legs wrapped tight around him. I was coming so hard that I couldn’t control myself. I was screaming, trying wiggle out of his grasp as he continued to swirl my clit, dragging out my orgasm.

  Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, he hoisted me up, shoving a pillow underneath me. Grabbing onto the wooden headboard, he fucked me so hard the bed slammed into the wall. The generic pictures on the walls rattled, one of them falling to the ground. It was like an earthquake was shaking the whole house.

  When he came, his fingers bit into my skin as he held me to him. He was breathing hard and sweat slipped from his forehead, dropping down on me. When he finally opened his eyes, he bent down and kissed me, slower than any time before. I was so lost by this sudden change, that it took me a moment to respond. With my arms wrapped around his neck, I pulled him closer and enjoyed the moment with him.

  His dick hardened inside me again and he slowly rocked in and out of me. But if I thought this time would be slower, I was mistaken. He grinned down at me, promising all sorts of wicked things.

  “Time for round two,” he said just as he flipped me over to straddle him and pushed inside me again.

  When Princess’s wet tongue slid across my face, waking me up, I knew she needed to go out. I glanced over, watching Antonio sleep beside me. He was passed out. After all, we had only fallen asleep a few hours ago. Slipping from the bed, I grabbed my clothes from around the room, picking my shirt off a lamp.

  “Let’s go,” I whispered to the dogs, hoping they didn’t start barking and wake him up. We headed for the front door, and despite the chill of the air around me, I didn’t mind it today. Last night had been amazing. I didn’t think the dogs liked being kicked off the bed, but they’d have to get used to it.

  I watched the dogs playing in the snow. It seemed that now Princess had a playmate, he was more willing to stay outside. Although, it looked like Max was the driving force behind the playing. When it was too cold for me to stand out here any longer, I whistled for them to come in and headed inside. I grabbed their food, filling both their bowls, then pulled out some pancake mix. Staring at the box, I wasn’t sure how much to make. Sure, there were portions, but Antonio was a big guy. Was this for one pancake per person or five? I decided to err on the side of caution and make a couple of batches. If a
nything, we’d just munch on them throughout the day.

  As the dogs ate, I started mixing the batter, humming a tune to myself. I stopped mixing, wondering what I was humming. It was weird to be able to hum a tune, but have no idea what it was.

  A shout from the other room made all three of us jerk our heads up. “Stay,” I said to the dogs, not sure if they would listen. After all, I hadn’t had them that long. I wasn’t even sure if they understood anything I was saying.

  Opening the bedroom door, Antonio was sitting up in bed, bent over slightly as he held his head.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked as I climbed up on the bed.

  He shook his head slightly. “Just a bad dream.”

  “Do you want to tell me about it?”

  He huffed out a laugh. “Do you want to tell me about yourself?”

  “That’s not fair. I don’t know anything about myself.”

  “Well, when you figure that out, then you can ask me to tell you something.”

  “And will you stick by that?”

  He narrowed his eyes at me, like he was trying to threaten me.

  “Yeah, that doesn’t really work on me.”

  “I don’t know why,” he muttered.

  “Because you don’t scare me. Remember, I saw you talking to Max yesterday. You’re just a big softy inside.”

  “I am not,” he said indignantly.

  “Oh, please. I may not know anything about you, but you didn’t keep me here because of my winning personality.”

  “I felt sorry for you. That’s all.”

  “Ah!” I said, holding up my hand. “Don’t undo all the good work you did last night. If you want sex again tonight, you’re going to have to hold your tongue.”

  He grabbed me around the waist, flipping me onto my back. “Who said anything about waiting until tonight?”

  His lips slammed down on mine and his erection pressed against my leg, but we didn’t get any further than that because something crashed in the other room. Antonio was off me and pulling a gun out of the nightstand before I even sat up.

  “Whoa! Don’t shoot the dogs!”

  More crashes sounded around the living room. The dogs were barking and their nails were scratching against the floor as they ran around the house.

  “What the hell are they doing?” Antonio snapped as he raced into the other room with me hot on his heels.

  The living room was a mess. The side table was knocked over and the chairs around the kitchen table were flipped over. The dog bowls had been knocked over, and food and water was all over the floor.

  Antonio whistled, trying to catch their attention, but they weren’t stopping. I started chasing after Princess, trying to stop the madness, but she kept slipping out of my grasp.

  “Max! Stop right now!” Antonio shouted.

  The dogs ran between us, Princess shoving himself between my legs. I fell forward, catching myself on the counter and knocking the bowl of pancake batter onto the floor. Antonio just barely caught me, but then Princess ran back into him and we both went crashing to the floor. Pancake batter was everywhere, all over us and on the cabinets and floor. As if the dogs knew they were in big trouble, they finally sat down and whimpered sadly.

  “What the hell is all over me?”

  “I was making pancakes.”

  “For an army?”

  “No, I didn’t know how much to make you.”

  “The same as any normal person!”

  “But you’re not normal. You’re gigantic and mountainmanish!”

  “That’s not even a word!”

  “Oh, like that really matters,” I snapped. “I was trying to be nice.”

  “Well, now we’re covered in it, all because you couldn’t stop your damn dog.”

  “My dog? What about your dog? She’s the instigator!”

  “Oh, please, that dog is smaller than my foot.”

  “She is not, and she jumped on Princess last night.”

  “Then maybe you should have chosen a more manly name for your dog. I told you, he’s feeling emasculated. He thinks he has to be more effeminate.”

  “That’s such bullshit. A dog can’t feel effeminate.”

  “Really? Look at him. He’s got a sparkly collar on! I wouldn’t be surprised if you painted his toe nails.”

  “Hey, at least I didn’t take my dog to the spa!”

  “She’s a girl. She’s allowed to go to the spa.”

  “Yeah, well, it looks like it didn’t do her any good. She doesn’t know she’s supposed to be a lap dog. Did you give her lessons on how to be butch before you brought her home?”

  “This is ridiculous. I’m not arguing about this with you.”

  He stood, slipping on the floor slightly before stomping off to the bathroom.

  “Oh, I guess I’m supposed to clean this up?” I shouted.

  “You’re the one that made all the batter!”

  The door slammed, making the whole house shake. I turned toward the dogs, glaring at them. “Thanks for getting me in trouble.”

  They both whined, but neither of them looked too remorseful. Flicking my finger at the dogs, tiny droplets of batter landed on their noses.

  “Go in the other room,” I said firmly. Princess listened, but Max just titled her head at me. “Fine, go find Daddy.”

  She ran off toward the bathroom, scratching at the door. I grimaced as I lifted my arm out of the batter. It was caked all over my cast. I was going to have to get a new one put on. With my bad arm in the air, I stood and started grabbing stuff to clean the kitchen.

  Two hours later, we were at the hospital and the doctor was examining my arm.

  “How…did this happen?”

  Both of us stared at each other. “The dog did it.”

  25

  Antonio

  Walking out of the hospital, I had the distinct feeling that we were being watched. I discreetly looked around, grabbed Ciara’s hand in mine. I didn’t have my gun on me since we went into the hospital. I felt completely unprotected out here, not even the dogs were with us.

  “What are you looking at?”

  “What?” I glanced at Ciara, but kept looking around.

  “You keeping looking around. Are you expecting someone?”

  “No,” I said quietly.

  That was the problem. No one knew I was alive, so if anyone was watching, it had to be for her. I ushered her to the truck, shutting her door as I took another minute to look around. I couldn’t see anything suspicious, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t hiding in the shadows. I had done enough recon in my life to know how to see, but not be seen.

  I could check it out later, but for now, I needed to get Ciara home. If she really was in trouble, I couldn’t have her seen around town. It would be too dangerous.

  “Hey!”

  I spun so fast, prepared to pull my gun, even though it wasn’t on me, but it was just Jo. I breathed a sigh of relief, but I had to get out of here.

  “How are the dogs?”

  “They’re great,” I said, yanking open the door.

  “Aww, that’s so wonderful. I’m glad it’s all working out.”

  “Actually,” Ciara said, leaning across the seat. “We just came in because they caused a huge mess and spilled pancake batter everywhere. It got all over and under my cast. I had to have it replaced.”

  Jo laughed, like it was all so hysterical. Maybe it was, but we had to get out of here. I got in the truck and slammed the door.

  “Hey!” Ciara snapped. “You’re being rude.”

  “We need to leave.”

  “Really? What’s so important?”

  I rolled down the window. “Sorry, we’ve left the dogs too long. Gotta get home.”

  “Oh, I totally get it. New doggie parents are always nervous,” she grinned.

  “Rightfully so,” Ciara said, holding up her cast.

  I sighed in irritation. “We’ll see you later.”

  Shifting into reverse, I backed out of
our spot and peeled out of the parking lot. My eyes kept flicking to the rearview mirror, checking for anyone watching us.

  “We didn’t even ask why she was there.”

  “What?” I snapped.

  “She was in the hospital parking lot,” Ciara said like I was stupid. “Obviously, she was there for a reason. I didn’t get to ask her why.”

  I grunted in response, more focused on getting home. From now on, we’d take the dogs with us wherever we went. They’d alert us to any danger. I decided to take a different route home just in case. It would take us a long way out of the way, but I would be able to better determine if someone was following us, and throw them off our scent.

  “Why are we going this way?”

  I shifted in my seat, checking the mirrors. “Just taking a different route home.”

  “But you said we had to get home to check on the dogs.”

  I tightened my fist around the steering wheel. I wanted to tell her to just shut up and sit there, but that wouldn’t win me any points with her. Besides, she didn’t know yet about the file in her suitcase. She was innocent. It didn’t matter what happened to her before she came here. She didn’t know anything, and therefore, I couldn’t hold her responsible for whatever was coming our way. And something was definitely coming. I could feel it like the build of a storm.

  “I just want to show you another route home. Just in case.”

  “Just in case what?”

  I shrugged. “If you ever need the truck.”

  “But why wouldn’t I just take the regular route home?”

  “Just in case. What if something happened to me? You need to know your way around.”

  “Okay, have you been drinking?” she laughed slightly. “You’re acting really strange. What exactly do you think is going to happen?”

  “Nothing,” I muttered. “Just pay attention to where we’re going.”

  She didn’t say anything else as we drove home. As for me, I was too busy watching for anything suspicious and planning out how I was going to protect her. As long as no one knew where we were, we’d be safe. I’d just have to keep her at the house, but how I would do that, I had no idea. Maybe it was time to show her the folder.